Dream Wife on Icelandic Storytelling

Punk trio Dream Wife came together while they were studying visual arts at Brighton University, with roommates Rakel and Bella roping in fellow student Alice to create a fake girl band for a course project.

Of course the fake band proved to be something of real substance and soon Dream Wife were putting on some of the best live shows around and recording tracks like their signature anthem “Somebody”, inspired by the SlutWalk, the grassroots protest march that calls for an end to rape culture.

Dream Wife also collaborate with the Girls Against campaign, which was formed by three teenage girls to raise awareness of, and reduce sexual harassment at gigs and concerts. At their concerts they make sure there’s an even footing between performers and audience and they on a mission to support women taking up space at shows.

Icelandic-born and California raised Rakel Mjöll is Dream Wife’s singer and was already a veteran of the Reykjavík music and arts scene before she headed to the UK to study. She’s sung with bands such as Útidúr, Sykur and Halleluwah and comes from a highly creative family of that includes her uncle Ragnar Kjartansson — the famed performance artist.

As Rakel tells us, Icelanders are incredibly protective and proud of their culture and past which is rich in tales of monsters, spirits, elves and trolls. This is shown through their passionate storytelling, which has occupied a central place in Icelandic history since the first settlers from Norway and the British Isles reached the island in the late 9th and early 10th century.